


Little Miss Perfect

by JFWritingStories



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Addiction, Angst, Best Friends, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Drama, Fluff, Friendship, Friendzone, Humor, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Love, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Smut, Past Drug Use, Relapsing, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:28:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JFWritingStories/pseuds/JFWritingStories
Summary: Annie's been through so much stress, after reconnecting with her old dealer, thinking about the time she had most things under control she considers going back to Aderall.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Jeff Winger, Annie Edison/Jeff Winger
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	1. Slater's Back

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Hope you enjoy this first chapter. Your comments and kudos really help me and are truly appreciated! :)

Friday night, Troy, Abed and Annie were doing a diagram on their apartment. It was supposed to be a teamwork, but Britta was working at a bar, Pierce had come up with an excuse to stay at his place, Shirley didn’t have a nanny for her kids and Jeff had a cold.

Abed and Troy didn’t really buy Jeff’s excuse, but Annie chose to believe him, a little worried he might actually feel bad. She was texting him every hour to check on him. He had thought it was too much, but Annie was like that, she cared, so he answered back just an emoji so she wouldn’t freak out about a possible death from a cold and decided to go to his place to check on him in person.

It wasn’t that he did not enjoy her company, but he wasn’t actually sick. He was on a date. And on a date with a woman neither of their friends liked, Slater.

….

“Should we go check on Jeff? He hasn’t answered my text”, Annie asked, a little concerned.

“He might have fallen asleep”, Abed answered while painting something in the diagrama.

“Or maybe he’s dead”, Troy said, a little worried, then saw Annie’s big worried eyes. “No, no, like I was just kidding… Wait, now I’m worrying too”, Troy said with panic in his voice.

“Maybe we could take a little break and take him some soup, a little nice detail for him to feel better”, Annie said with a sweet smile.

“Can we get some soup for ourselves too?”, Abed asked and Annie nodded, “Obviously”.

“Then I am in”, Abed said, dropping what he was holding.

….

The elevator opened and the three of them walked outside of it to Jeff’s apartment. Abed tried to call him but it took it to voicemail. “Should we leave it here?”, Annie asked.

“Someone could take it”, Abed said while looking next to a plant and founding a key. “Bingo”.

“Why would Jeff keep-”, Troy tried to ask.

“Oh, this is a copy I took from his key, just something like this happened”, Abed said with a little smile.

“I don’t think we should enter-”, Annie was mid sentence when Abed opened the door and Jeff jumped off from a very nervous Michelle at his couch. He was trying to put his shirt back on, lucky she was still dressed. Annie felt her heart breaking, trying to shake her head as if taking the image from her mind.

She knew they were not dating, but she actually thought there was something there. Or was she just hallucinating the way he treated her? 

“Oh, well, someone’s actually sick”, Troy said a little offended.

“How did you guys even-”, Jeff asked, angry.

“Hello, professor”, Abed said and Michelle waved, a little embarrassed.

“Well, well. Looks like someone doesn’t deserve chicken soup”, Troy said, taking the soup from Annie who was frozen next to the door. Jeff saw her face filled with confusion, she didn’t seem angry, but it was as if she was trying to process what she had seen, or just really trying to understand it. 

“Annie? Don’t you care to say something to your very irresponsible friend?”, Troy said and Abed looked at her as if trying to analize her gaze.

“Yeah, um, If you had to do this tonight well I thought you trusted more in us and I would've just the truth and not make up a lie. We could’ve coordinated our schedule for you to take time off now”, Annie said, looking everywhere but him. Jeff felt his chest heavy, almost as if he could hear the disappointment in her voice, the words coming out of her were just a mere excuse to say something.

“Sorry to interrupt, I would assume you understand that we won’t let the soup here, you don’t deserve it”, Abed said, Annie just turned around to walk away. Abed closed the door and he looked at Michelle. 

“So, that was awkward”, Slater said.

“Completely”, Jeff said, still trying to catch his breath, didn’t realize he had been holding his air since he saw Annie’s shocked face.

He held his phone and saw three texts from Annie: “Are you feeling okay?”, “Would you like some soup?”, “We are driving to your place, we’ll bring you soup. :)”.

He couldn’t feel worse.

….

Annie stopped before getting into their car. “Would you mind if I walk home?”, she asked and Troy looked at her a little confussed, “Not gonna happen dude, it’s too late”.

“I just really need some fresh air”.

“We’ll let your window down, you can stick your head out of the car”.

“Have you not seen Hereditary? I’d rather her walking alone”, Abed said and Annie nodded while cringing at the image.

“It’s not that long and I’ll send you my location so Abed can see where I am while you guys drive home”, Annie said and Troy and Abed shared a look.

“Are you carrying your pepper spray?”, Troy asked.

“Always”, she answered.

“Keep your keys on your hand”, Abed said and Annie nodded, “Of course”.

“Being a girl is so sad”, Troy let out a worried sigh.

“Amen”, Annie said, walking away.

….

Annie put on one of her airpods, still looking around at all times, she thanked the park was not completely empty, there were some friends there, some couples even. She sat on a bench and looked at the people who walked by. 

She knew it wasn’t her heartbreak, she was in no place to feel so disappointed, sad and betrayed. They were not a couple, she could even sometimes see some flirty details between him and Britta but she had made herself think it was just some playful things. 

Still, she appreciated her taste in music and let the closest thing she had felt to a broken heart take over her whole body, mind and soul. 

_ Older, stubborn, liar, selfish, arrogant,  _ she thought as if trying to order his ‘negative’ traits. And groaned when she figured out all of those things had some positive in them. She liked that he was older, it was complicated, but it was part of who he was and she wouldn’t change it. He was stubborn, but he normally knew when he was wrong. He was a liar, but he usually didn’t lie to her. He was selfish, that was not very positive at all, and, well, she couldn’t figure out if he was arrogant or just overly confident. 

“Little Annie Edison?”, a familiar voice took her out of her trance and looked at a man standing next to her. “Oh, god. Elliot?”, she asked and the guy nodded with a big smile, taking a seat next to her.

“It’s been too long, look at you all glam up”, he said and she let out a nervous laugh.

“Didn’t take you as the girl who walks home alone at night”, he said.

“Yeah, just needed some fresh air”, Annie said.

“I remember that excuse”, Elliot said with a cocky laugh.

Annie laugh and took off her airpod, “Although, now I actually need air”, she said.

“Right, I heard about you going to rehab. Too bad, I mean, for my business”, he said teasing her, she smiled at the joke.

“Ha ha, too funny”, she said in a sad voice.

“Too bad you got caught”.

“I know. That was awful, well, the whole getting caught and rehab and all of that”.

“Don’t you miss it sometimes? Like that free, light head feeling, not a trace of stress at all. Dude when I think about letting off of them I freak out, literally”, he said worried and she shrugs.

“Sometimes. When you’re clean you just have to face too many feelings, and most of them don’t make much sense. You don’t know how much I want to let some of those feelings away even for a moment”.

“You know, I’ve heard of some guys who go to rehab and after that they learn to control the pills, like they just have a couple of them once every two weeks or stuff like that”, he said and Annie felt a little intrigued, trying to shut up the little voice in her head that was urging her to walk way.

A little buzz from her phone, he saw a text from Jeff: “Sorry, Annie. I swear I’ll do my part of the job and next time I’ll tell you the truth”.  _ Next time _ , she thought and let out a surprised laugh. 

“Look, I don’t wanna be the guy who brings you back to these, but It’s not that bad, I mean, you only had to let go of them because of that incident, you were actually doing pretty okay”, he said and Annie faked a smile.

“I’m not buying you pills”, Annie firmly said.

“That’s okay. But, if you want to see if you can control it, these are from the house”, he said while placing a little bag with some pills on her hand, when Annie recognized them she closed her hand as fast as she could, worried someone would see them.

“Relax, it’s not like you’re gonna take them in public. If you feel overwhelmed try with two of them and see if it works. If it does and you want more, you have my card”, he said while giving her a plain white card with a number, she laughed but placed the little bag and card inside her purse. “Thank you, we’ll see”.

“Hope to see you around, Annie. You’ve always been one of my coolest clients”, he said pointing at her playful, “And don’t worry, you can text me or call me anytime you want, I’ll be with you in minutes with whatever you need. I can even send you the catalog”.

“Catalog? You guys are getting fancier”, she teased him and he smiled, “I made it on paint”.

“Makes sense”, she said with a smile.

“It looks really good, actually”.

“I’ll be the judge of that”, she said without even thinking.

“Well, tell me how it goes. I’m running late to meet a client. It was really nice to see you, Annie A”, he said and she felt a shiver through her spine, knowing what that ‘A’ stands for.


	2. Push Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie decides to push Jeff back, her family reconects with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to write next chapter! Hope you enjoy the story so far. Your comments and kudos are truly appreciated! :) Have an amazing day.

When she got home that night, Annie walked straight into her bedroom. A little startled by the conversation with Elliot. She remembered he was always so nice to her, and she appreciated that, she even had considered him her friend, and, somehow he had been one for her. 

She opened her purse and saw the little bag with pills, she shook her head as if trying to make her curiosity go away. She was not about to relapse for a heartbreak, that was too stupid, so not worth it. The only positive thing about going back into Adderall was calming her nerves, shut the little voice in the back of her head that was lately most of the time on the edge of a breakdown.

Annie played a little bit with the bag on her hands, just remembering the little weight of the pils. It had always fascinated her how much power they had over her… And that was it, she opened one of her drawers and hid the bag on the back of it, a little scared. They had too much power over her, she liked to control her feelings with them, but she got carried away by it countless times.

She envied the people that Elliot had talked about, those who could take one pill once in a while, feel the relief of their problems and just forget about it, not getting hooked up… She was clean, it was kind of like a fresh start, right? She had been clean for almost five years, all of it was out of her system.

Maybe the pills just won’t have any power over her. Maybe she realized they didn’t help her. Maybe she would be way more productive taking a couple every once in a while… She heard herself considering the idea and could see her friends disappointment gaze on her head. 

But she wouldn’t deny she often thought she could need a little bit of extra help to keep her sane, even just keeping her life under control. 

….

Annie walked out of the room in her pajamas, she walked to the kitchen for a glass of water and noticed Abed and Troy finishing the project, watching TV.

“Aww, you guys, don’t worry. Go to bed, we’ll finish it tomorrow”, Annie said.

“No way, we’re gonna finish it today so when Jeff comes back all filled with regret he won’t have anything to help us with and he would feel worse”, Troy said and Abed nodded.

“Wouldn’t it be worse to actually give him something to do?”.

“Think bigger. We still have so many more projects left to do, so we'll have a busy month”, Abed said and Annie groaned, it had been a couple of hard weeks. Too busy, too filled with stuff to do. 

“I’ll do some kind of schedule for the whole group, we need to give ourselves some kind of break”, she said, exhausted.

“Sure, that’s a good idea”, Troy said and Abed turned to look at her, “Why did you spend too much time at the park?”. She froze but let out a smile, “I just bumped into a friend and we talked a little bit. That’s all”.

“Cool. Didn’t know you had more friends outside the group”.

Annie felt a little offended, but she got it, she wasn’t very popular. And, if she was being honest, being that tired and stressed most of the time already consumed much of her time, so, more friends maybe wouldn’t be ideal.

“I don’t like how that friend of yours sound”, Troy said in a jealous tone.

“What do you mean?”, she asked.

“Well, it’s not Abed or Jeff or Pierce or me so I don’t trust him” Troy finished his sentence an she smiled, nodding, “Right”.

“I’m not Jeff’s biggest fan right now”, Abed said and Annie groaned, “I know, right?”.

“That was low, they all got really good excuses like work and kids and whatever Pierce was doing, but pretending to be sick to bang an ex girlfriend? Not cool”, Troy said, offended.

“They might have gotten together, though. He has been a little bit more worried about his appearance for the past few weeks”, Abed mentioned as if it was nothing and Annie tried to remember, it was true, he had been dressing better, getting more late than usual, he even was friendzoning her harder. Which was something to point out. She had noticed it before but she thought it had been just one of his sudden panic moments of realization that she was younger, she was so used to it that just let it slide.

A little hit of reality on her own hit Annie, if he was trying so hard to push her away, to put some distance between them, but he claimed to still care too much about her and looking at her with those eyes and that smile just for her, shouldn’t have been a nice some warning from him? Just a little ‘hey i’m getting back with my ex so you wouldn’t get all surprised and heartbroken when i’m dating someone while you made up stories in your head when I look at you with my adorable smirk, the one that only comes out when I see you'. Right? 

Maybe she should imitate him. If he was being nice, she would be nice. If he was pushing her away… She would try her best not to care about it and not to look at him, not to even stare at him. Maybe, if she was being brave enough, she would just push him away. He would probably won’t even notice. 

She was so disposable for him. Just a young girl with a crush who he could kiss whenever he wanted and confuse her and then just turn away, again. She sometimes hated herself for that. For letting him kiss her, for kissing him, for looking at him with the ‘doe eyes’ as he called them and getting some kind of physical touch or just a really good kiss in reward for being there. 

It was all so frustrating. He was a big useless distraction, and she hated that it wasn’t doing anything wrong. It was just the way he was, she couldn’t blame him. He had his messed up moments, but he wasn’t a bad guy, he was just trying to figure out things, just like herself. One of the differences between them was that she wasn’t flirting with anyone who could breath. 

Annie walked back into her room, her mind spinning around the same topic: Jeff. Her useless heartbreak, the fact that she had fallen so hard for him and he always ended up walking away, and she was there every time he needed her… Although that was unfair, even when he pushed away, she knew if she needed his help, he would be there too. God dammit, Jeff Winger.

….

A little buzz from her phone woke her up, she saw the caller ID: Jeff. She declined the call and tried to go back to sleep. She would usually answer, but she was too tired to be the one who has to be there. The one Jeff only cared about when he felt that she was mad or disappointed at him. Annie was about to play it cool and maybe see him later at school, frankly she didn’t care, too much on her mind, he was not on the top of his list, at least not today. Hopefully not ever again.

She scrolled down her notifications, too many of them from the study group, a couple from Jeff, she didn’t bother to read them. Until one caught her eye, from: Andrew Edison. She had sometimes spoken to her dad, but it had been a couple of months without hearing from him. 

_ “Your mother and I will be hosting a brunch with some friends from work. Might be nice if you have time to come. If you like it you can join us for lunch before it so we can speak and spend some time as a family. Your mother and Anthony look forward to seeing you. Regards, your father”.  _

Annie tried to shook her head, not being able to read that well by her sleepiness. She read the text over and over again. First Elliot, now her family, was this some kind of message from the universe? 

She knew that if she agreed to see them before the event it would be so she could discuss with her mother about what she could or could not say to their guests. Might even try to put up with the perfect daughter and student charade. Would definitely try to memorize whatever their parents had told their friends so they wouldn’t suspect about Annie’s problems, about going to rehab, about her studying at Greendale Community College. 

Annie wanted to convince herself she didn’t need that stress.

But she missed her family, after all, they were her blood.

And, after a very exhausting training, it would be nice to fake a smile and pretend everything is perfect in her own life.

Maybe she would wear a nice dress that her parents would totally buy for her, wanting to present her as if time had not passed and if she had spent the past years with the same lifestyle she was used to. 

Probably they would try to make her flirt with someone’s son, one that her parents had already studied to perfection for them to make business with his parents.

She somehow missed the drama, she remembers thinking she was in some kind of episode of ‘Dynasty’, except that she was fired after the seventeen season… But still, fun. Well, at least her memories of it… Grass is always greener on the other side.

Annie remembered the breakdowns and pain from that, but, being outside of it, she would like to try it again, to see if she could handle it now, one hundred percent clean, one hundred percent aware of everything that was happening. 

That’s why she texted back: “I’d love to. Can you text me the details of lunch and the event?”.

She saw the little three dots and then a big text from her dad, then nothing.

Annie saw a little notification on her phone: “Andrew Edison has added you to the GroupChat: ‘Edison Family’”. She couldn’t help but smile, she wanted to cry, to laugh out of nervousness. It was her family, she was back with them. She would deal with their questions and probably stress about it later.

….

Her parents had asked her to have lunch with them that same day, so she put on a floral dress, a little more “normal Annie”. She knew the kind of image her parents wanted her to have. The kind of sweet, smart type. And it was good that she liked that fit. She worried a little bit to think they might expect her to dress differently, maybe more mature, but she was overthinking, again. It was a reunion, after all. 

As much as she hated to admit it, if they wanted her to wear something else to their brunch, they would definitely tell her and even maybe just hand her whatever she was supposed to put on before facing back, again, tons of fake and cold people.

….

The door opened to a tall man who was not smiling. Annie instantly recognized him and smiled, punching him in the arm, “Dave!”, Annie said, the man looked down and a big smile appeared on his face. “Is this our little Annie? Oh my goodness I thought you were dead!”, he said excitedly while pulling her in for a big hug. “So dramatic, I was just banished from the earth because of my drug-”. “Shhhh”, Dave interrupted her a little worried, “We don’t talk about that, and, a little advice, don’t bring that up unless your mother asks” he said in a whisper, then cleared his voice. “I’m so happy you’re back”, he said with a soft smile and she smiled, “Me too”.

She entered the room, a little disoriented, she knew that place like the palm of her hand, but it all seemed different, new pieces of art, new furniture. She looked over at a big painting of the four of them, she cringed a little bit when she saw her face on it. Too weird. She looked over to a wall with some pictures, a big one of her was in the middle of the room, it did seem like she was dead.

God, where was she getting into?


	3. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie have lunch with her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! :) I'm sorry in advantage if I take too long to update any of my works (I keep starting new works which I loooove but then I get a little carried away with when to update what. LOL). Still I hope you like this chapter! I can't wait to write more. :) Any kudos and comments are really appreciated!

“Look who’s finally home!”, Annie’s mother said walking into the room, Annie turned around and let out a genuine smile, even though her mother sounded a little bit sarcastic. “Hello, mother”, Annie answered, trying to keep her face up and stand as straight as she could. At the end of the day, she was an Edison. Everything about her had to be perfect. 

Annabella looked at her from head to toe as if trying to look for something, Annie let her, she was used to this. Her mother grabbed a lock of Annie’s hair and curled it a little bit, then smooth the rest of her hair. “There we go, better”, she said, Annie nodded. 

“So, how long has it been? Two years?”.

“Actually, almost five years”.

“Oh, that’s long. You look skinnier, that’s good”, Annie cringed at the comment, but tried not to make it obvious.

“Mom, I'm going to the pool”, Anthony said walking to the garden, “Oh, cool. Hi Annie. Bye Annie”, he said not putting that much attention to them. 

“Come back in half an hour, we’re having lunch with your sister”, Annabella said and Annie smiled, she was going to spend time with her complete family.

“Is that pretty girl my Anita?”, her dad called her while walking down the huge stairs in the room.

“Dad!”, Annie squeaked excitedly, her parents were too different to each other. Her dad hugged her and Annabella smiled. “You didn’t hug me”, Annie’s mother said and Annie looked at her softly. “Hello, mom. May I hug you?”, she asked. “Of course”, Annabella said before giving her a quick hug. That seemed about right.

“Wanna go change into something more comfortable in your room? We’ll have lunch in the garden”.

“I don’t think I fit into my seventeen year old clothes, mother”, Annie said as if it was obvious.

“Of course not, Dave got you something for today, a little bit more you know, our Annie at your age. Don’t take too long”, her mother said, Annie forced a smile, she should’ve seen it coming.

She nodded and walked upstairs, a little disoriented by the new decor. Her hand touched the doorknob from her room and she felt a sudden deja vú. Sneaking in and out as she pleased, their parents not really knowing where she was or who she was with.

She used to just go out and run at night, she felt a little bit more in control that way, as if somehow she could run away from her mind and her anxiety. 

When she would come back, trying not to make too much noise, which it would only matter to the people in charge of keeping an eye on her, God bless their souls, she had a smile on her face, taking advantage of her ‘alone time’ to take some more pills.

After locking the door after her, she would usually take a long shower and cry.

Annie shook head and opened the door, she saw her too big for her room. Plain, filled with cream and white tones, too bland, too old Annie. It was nice and pretty, but it didn’t reflect her personality at all. 

She saw a big bouquet of flowers on her vanity next to a little blue box. She smiled, a little moved. A note on the flowers said: “To our perfect daughter”. She couldn’t help but cry, she recognized her mother's handwriting, he hugged the little note and read it all over again. She opened the little blue box and saw a little bracelet with her initials: AE.

She couldn’t keep herself from taking a picture of the big bouquet with the note, and her hand, showing the bracelet. She posted on her stories and put her phone in silence mode. She left it on her vanity and walked towards her closet.

It was good to be home.

….

Dave really had good taste in outfits, he was usually the one that helped her to pick an outfit when she wanted to impress a boy or just had an important event. Everything that he liked had to be previously approved by her mother. Sometimes it wasn’t that bad to be used as a living doll, not really having to dress about what to wear the next day, just standing up and smiling. Today was one of those days that she really didn’t matter, especially because she had really enjoyed the outfits picked by Dave. 

If this was how her parents wanted her to dress now, that was fine by her. [She looked more mature](https://www.pinterest.com.mx/pin/669417932099005133/), less sweet, still sophisticated and classy. She felt some empowering coming from her when she walked down the stairs. The usual feeling of getting ready to face the world with a cold face and a fake smile, still some kind of power.

“It looks way better on you”, Dave said with a smile and pointed with his hand to the garden. Annie let out an honest smile and hugged him. “I missed us”, she said and he laughed. “Me too, you know I’m not really one with gossips but…”.

“But?”, Annie asked with a soft smile.

“I heard your parents discussing about you moving back here”, he said trying to conceal a happy squeak.

She froze, “Really?”.

“Aren’t you happy? Annie coming back to this house, this kind of lifestyle, that’s pretty cool if you ask me. I mean, now that you’re smarter and older, therefore wisest and coolest”, he said and Annie left out a sigh, “Yeah, I mean, hopefully”.

“Act surprised if they say something, okay? Now just move it” he said while pushing her a little to walk.

….

“Look at you, Annie Edison”, her mother said with a big smile on her face, Annie smiled back while taking a seat on her usual spot.

“We should do something about your hair”, her mother continued. “What’s wrong about her hair?”, Anthony asked while eating.

“Maybe we could do some highlights on the bottom part of it to add more dimension, it’s too brown. Or maybe cut it to your shoulders”.

“I don’t really wanna cut it”, Annie said, a little worried.

“Okay, then just some highlights, a little trim and extensions could do a little trick, also start parting your hair in the middle”.

“Of course”, Annie said, already trying to smooth her hair.

“Clear your schedule for the rest of the day, honey, we can go to the salon after lunch and piano lessons”.

“Are you taking lessons?”.

“Don’t be silly, Annie. Your lessons”.

“My-?”.

“Your mom thought it would be nice to hear you play again, so we can pay for the classes, you can start today, your teacher would be here at 3, I hope you don’t mind. We would love for you to play a song at the brunch”, her dad said with a proud smile and Annie nodded, a little dizzy. How was this coming back to her so fast? 

Change of clothes? Okay.

Flowers and a bracelet? That was sweet.

Hairstyle? Ugh, a little too much.

Forcing her to go back to piano lessons? God.

What was next? She has only been an hour with them and she was already living 50 percent of her old Annie’s life.

….

After her piano lessons with her old and boring teacher, Annie tried to sneak out to her room to grab her phone. She closed the door and looked at it, she frowned when she noticed two more missing calls from Jeff, then a lot of texts from the study group chat.

**Britta:** Annie, why is someone giving you flowers and calling you a daughter? Is this some kind of kink?

**Abed:** Are you with your parents? 

**Troy:** Those flowers seem expensive, dude. Can you bring back some plates? We could use that.

**Shirley:** Oh sweet Annie, that’s nice! Hope it goes well and you can introduce you to your family soon.

**Jeff:** Are you actually with your parents?

**Pierce:** Hold on to it, Annie! Those opportunities don’t come twice! Trust fund babies united!

She closed the chat and saw a couple of unopened texts from Jeff.

**Jeff:** Sorry about today, I feel awful. 

**Jeff:** I mean, I should have helped you guys with our homework.

She exhaled, a little angry.

**Jeff:** Just saw your story. How are you feeling? Are they nice?

**Jeff:** Did they kidnap you or something?

**Jeff:** I’m almost a lawyer. I can take you out of any trouble.

She left him on read, still annoyed at him, then opened back the group chat.

**Annie:** I’m at my parents. I don’t think I will be able to help you with the project today. I’m sorry.

She forced herself to type, she wasn’t going to fail for not helping them one day, also, they all had a bunch of fake excuses. It was her time to take a break. Even though spending time with her family wasn’t exactly a break.

**Jeff:** Don’t worry, we can do it. Have a nice family day. 

Jeff typed, waiting for a response, he saw three little dots, but Shiley just texted something about homework. As much as he was happy for Annie to see her family, he felt very protective about her, and the thought of her interacting with someone who let her down, the ones who should’ve never ‘given up’ on her, that was nerve wracking.

….

The rest of the group were at Abed, Troy and Annie’s apartment. It was 10 pm, a little too late for Annie to be out, in Jeff’s opinion.

“So, should we call the police?” Troy asked, then a familiar buzz on his phone. Abed grabbed it, “It’s Annie. She won’t come back, she’s spending the night with her parents”.

“That’s absurd”, Jeff left out, a little worried.

“That’s sweet, Jeffrey. She’s comfortable enough to stay the night with her family. Maybe they’re gonna roast marshmallows and sing around a campfire”, Shirley said excitedly.

“Ask her to send you a picture to see if she has not been abducted by aliens”, Troy said and Abed typed in his phone.

A little buzz back and Abed nodd, “She’s alive, but she looks weird”.

“That’s a huge ass mirror, also that’s a huge ass room”, Troy said, looking at the picture.

Jeff asked for the phone and looked at the picture. Annie had taken a selfie in front of a big mirror, he could see a huge bed behind her, she was wearing silk pajamas and had a ponytail, she seemed fine somehow her surroundings made sense, he tried to shake his head to fight the little scare that was forming in his mind.

“Woah, if that was my room at my parent’s I totally wouldn’t have moved away. Rehab? Who’s her?”, Britta joked while looking at the picture. Jeff looked at her with a piercing look and she put her hands up as if she was surrounding.

“Did she take her pajamas?”, Troy asked and Abed shook his head, “Those are not hers, well, maybe they are”. He typed something on the phone, a little buzz back, “A gift from her parents. Makes sense”.

“Trust fund baby”, Pierce said with a huge smile, “If I didn’t like her that much, you know, she’s my favorite, I’d say she would probably end up being my tenth wife”. The whole group cringed.

“You wouldn’t get it because you’re not rich”, Pierce said, painting something. 

“She’s Annie. She’s just trying to be nice with her parents, and I’m glad it’s going fine”, Jeff said, trying to convince herself.

“She’s a businessman young and beautiful daughter, she will be forced into marriage in less than a year. Mark my words”, Pierce said and Jeff's heart was now racing, his mind filled with negative thoughts.

“Do you happen to know where her parents live?”, Jeff asked. The group looked at him a little confused. 


	4. Ice Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group realizes Annie's got a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've been enjoying the story so far! It's been really fun to write it! Your comments and kudos are really appreciated, if you have an suggestion or opinion i'd love to read it! :)

Turns out, the group got really good arguments for Jeff not to go and look for Annie to her parents house. They had spent almost all of the night doing a couple of diagrams, five am in the morning and Abed’s phone buzzed.

“Who’s calling you at five am?”, Jeff asked, a little tired.

“Annie posted a picture on her instagram, I turn her notifications on in case she posts an SOS alert or something”, Abed calmly said and opened the notification. “I didn’t see that coming”.

“Why is she even up at five am?”, Britta asked and Troy groaned, “Maybe it’s just one of her weird quotes to start the day or something”.

“Nah, she’s in class, see?”, Abed turned the phone to the group, Annie had posted [a selfie.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AlisonBrie/comments/edhsj9/ice_skating/)

“Does she ice skate?”, Troy asked a little confused, “Am I hallucinating? I haven’t slept in a while”.

“Does she ice skate at fucking five am in the morning?”, Britta groaned.

“She reposted some stories”, Abed said. “Let me see”, Jeff said before taking the phone, the whole group gathered around him to see it. Annie’s hair was perfectly up on a ponytail, her eyes a deeper blue tone and more makeup than she usually wore, one of the girls that posted the story had put on a text: ‘Our Ice Princess’s back!’.

‘Welcome back, babe!’, another text in the next story, Annie was standing perfectly straight in the middle of the ice skate, she took a breath and proceeded to skate with such elegance and determination, she gave a couple of twirls, landing perfectly on the ice then took her face up to wait for the teacher’s feedback.

“This is some black swan shit if you ask me, look at those cold eyes, not even a smile”, Britta said and Jeff paused the video at the end to see her face, it was true, her face seemed cold, her brows a little up as in a smudge frown and her lips tight.

“This is weird, right?”, Jeff asked them, they all nodded. “Maybe she’s just trying to get her parents affection back”, Abed pointed out and Jeff shook his head, “Yeah, but one thing is having lunch with them and the other is going to a fucking class at five am in the morning. And those ‘ice princess’, ‘babe’, that’s not how Annie talks”.

“Well, she doesn’t talk like that, but her friends do”, Abed said.

“Don’t worry. She’s just posing, it’s like that face you give everyone you don’t really trust or like, when you’re rich that happens a lot, but when she sees us she’s going to be just Annie, she knows us”, Pierce assured them and Jeff prayed in his mind for it to be true.

“Annie deleted most of her pictures, she also changed her bio, that’s weird”, Troy said looking at Annie’s profile.

“Oh oh, she’s embarrassed”, Britta said.

“Oh no, do you think this is something that she did because of her parents?”, Shirley asked, worried.

Jeff took his hands to his face, a little desperate.

….

He was sitting in the study room, using his phone, trying to distract himself. The only two people missing were Pierce and Annie, he was hoping they were together and not that Annie was going to skip their reunion.

Someone stood next to the table, the corner of his eyes could see a taller woman with a very short [skirt](https://www.reddit.com/r/AlisonBrie/comments/dy7qs3/short_skirt/), that was totally not her. “Sorry, that seat’s taken”, he said without looking at the direction. “By whom?”, Annie asked, he looked in her direction a little surprised then his eyes went straight to her legs, she covered them a little bit with her bag then took a seat, a little blushed.

“What happened to your hair?”, Britta asked, Annie let out a nervous laugh, he looked at her again. Her hair was a lighter tone, a little longer and she had parted it in the middle. “Just some extensions, what do you think?”, she asked and Britta put two thumbs up, “Dope”.

“Thanks”, Annie said and Shirley hold her hair, “I like it, it’s soft… About your tiny little skirt…”.

“It’s not that short”, Annie said while playing with it a little bit.

“Well the whole attention is drawn to your legs, maybe it’s because of the heels”, Shirley said.

“Are you wearing heels? That’s why you look so tall!”, Britta said excited.

“Yeah, it’s so weird, but it makes you walk straight so that’s good”, Annie said with a stressed smile.

“How was your whole parents thing?”, Jeff asked and she looked at him, her smile faded away, “How did you-?”. “Abed told us”, he said and she nodded, “Really good, actually. I missed them so much”.

“Annie! Look at you all grown up”, Pierce said while entering the room, “Classic makeover. Good thing you’re already pretty, some doctor would be giving you a new nose or boobs right this moment”.

“Can we not talk about Annie’s Boobs? I miss my monkey”, Troy said, trying to hold back a cry.

“Didn’t know you ice skated”, Abed said and Annie nodded happy, “Yeah, I used to do it all the time, I loved the fun costumes but, well, I stopped doing most of my hobbies when I went into rehab, but it’s nice catching back with them”.

“Them? Like in plural?”, Jeff asked.

“Of course, you can’t ice skate without dance lessons and you can’t have dance lessons without singing lessons and you can’t have singing lessons without piano lessons and you can’t have-”.

“Are you in some kind of loop?”, Britta asked, worried.

“Are you for real taking all of those classes?”, Jeff asked.

“What? No! I wouldn't be able to afford them in a million years… At the moment I’ve just gone back to ice skate, piano and yoga… But yoga is not a lesson, just a before brunch thing”, Annie said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“So you’ve gone for almost a day and a half and you’re already back on three hobbies? Paid by your parents?”.

“Oh Jeff, don’t say it like that”, Annie said softly.

“Like what?”, Jeff asked a little desperate.

“Like it’s all about money, it’s just about experiences”, Annie said, looking as if she was in her own world.

“I mean, it’s too much, but you can just skip classes if you want to, right?”, Shirley asked.

“Of course, but why would I skip the opportunity to do something fun? Besides, it’s on my agenda now so I got the time to do it”, Annie said with a proud smile.

“You got free time during these next weeks that are filled with tests and diagrams?”, Abed asked.

“I mean, we can lay down a little bit, right? It’s not like a big deal, It’s Community College, we don’t have to burn ourselves out”, Annie said and Jeff pointed at her.

“I am able to say that because I am me, you are you and you don’t think that way” he left out and she frowned.

“You sound like a nicer version of Regina George”, Abed said and Annie tilted her head a little bit as if she didn’t understand. Jeff looked at her, a little worried that it wasn’t that much of a charade, scared that she was starting to believe her fake persona.

“Annie, can you please come here to sign the-”, the Dean said and Annie stood up instantly, walking towards the Dean to make him stop talking. Jeff noticed the rest of the group looking at her, he turned around and saw her bare legs and high heels, he couldn’t help to think her skirt was too short, or at least way shorter than she usually wore. He usually thought about her as sweet, but that was a whole other view.

He felt a smack on the arm and looked at Britta who shook her head at him. “What? Just seeing what she’s doing”, he said, the Dean hugged Annie, trying to hold his tears.

“We’re totally gonna miss her, right? It’s sad we didn’t get to fully see her blossom”, the Dean said before walking out of the room.

“Annie, why are we gonna miss you?”, Troy asked and Abed looked at her as if she had betrayed him.

“Just a weird choice of words, I’m just gonna take some of the classes in a college closer to my parents house so I can see them more often”, Annie said, a little nervous tone on her voice. 

“Are you transferring?”, Abed asked, looking at Jeff as if waiting for his response.

“I am not, just taking a few classes, it’s not a big deal and would be really good for my extracurriculars” she said trying to minimize it he could tell she wasn’t fully convinced in her words.

“You need to talk to her”, Abed said to Jeff who rolled his eyes.

“I am standing here”, Annie said and Abed looked at her, “Are you, Annie? Are you?”.

“Can I talk to you?”, Jeff asked, a little worried and her phone buzzed, she looked at it and faked a small smile. “I’m sorry, maybe later, I have my piano lesson in thirty minutes at my parent’s house”, Annie grabbed her bag.

“Aren’t you coming to science?”, Britta said and Annie shook her head, “I’m gonna take the online course”.

“I’m coming with you”, Jeff said standing up.

“You can’t skip classes”, Annie said.

“I don’t care. I’m coming with you”.

“I’m not inviting you to come over, I won’t be able to give you any attention”, she said and he let out a fake laugh.

“Don’t care, I need to talk to you. You’re gonna have to find five minutes to spare between your absurd classes”.

Annie seemed hurt but walked out the room, he followed her. Annie walked to a black car while putting her sunglasses on, she was walking with a smug face, he looked at her a little confused, any other time he would’ve thought she looked hot, even a fun challenge, but this was his Annie, not some random girl, and he liked his Annie the way she was.

“Where’s your car?”, Jeff asked when he noticed a man standing next to the black car opened the backseat door for her and she stopped for him to get inside. “You got a driver?”, Jeff asked and Annie groaned, “His name is Paul. Paul, this is Jeff”, Paul said nothing, Annie looked back at Jeff, “You’re gonna make me late”, Jeff entered the car and Annie slid it next to him.

“So, what is all about?”, Jeff said when Paul handed Annie an open laptop, she took it and started to type something on it. “What could you even be doing right now?”.

“Online classes”, Annie said, not taking her eyes off the laptop. “Privacy?”, Paul asked while driving. “Sure”, Annie answered and Paul clicked something, a little black curtain started going up between the front seats and the back seats, Jeff looked at it as if trying to process it. “I think I saw this in the princess diary”, he left out and Annie smiled, “Don’t be silly, that was a limo, this is just a car”.

“What the fuck is going on, Annie? Why would we even need privacy back here?”, Jeff asked a little exasperated then looked at her as ife begging for answers, he looked at something behind here and before she could even react he was putting her seatbelt on, she tried not to smile.

“I’m just on my way to my parents house, well, we are, what’s wrong with that? Also, that privacy it’s because my parents are very busy people, so they-”.

“I don’t wanna know that”, Jeff interrupted her and she nodded, “Neither do we but Paul’s a gossip”, she said with a little smirk.

“You look so different”, Jeff said and Annie looked at him softly, “It’s just a hairstyle and different clothes, not a big deal”.

“And new hobbies, a driver, transferring some other classes to a new college?”, he asked and her eyes were now more like his typical Annie. “I’m just coming back home, Jeff. I wanted my family back and they wanted me back, all that I am, or was I didn't know, that was all new and weird for me. I’m starting to get and do everything I did before I met you guys and it feels right and good. I am back, just a little bit older and hopefully wiser” she said with a little laugh and he felt a little relief off his chest.

“All of those things made you go into rehab”, he said and a “Shh” came from the front seat. Annie smirked but whispered at him, “We don’t talk about that, okay? At least not in front of my family, friends or the staff”.

“Isn’t that a red flag?”, he asked, worried. “It’s not, it’s just trying to forgive myself and forget what I went through and get a new fresh start with the life that belongs to me”.

Her words hurt him, she seemed so different, all he could think about was her getting away from him. They were not a couple, he was just her friend, but he had the opportunity to be close to her and that was enough to make him happy, to feel some sort of hope that someday it might be okay for them to try something out, but this Annie felt so detached from him. 

She held her face and he felt himself leaning close, ready to kiss her, she leaned back and he looked at her confused face. “If my parents are around and they ask about you, you’re a friend”, she said and he felt his chest tighten. “Of course, you’re not supposed to remind me that we are friends”, he said and felt her hurt gaze but she nodded. 


	5. Only Told The Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff gets to know a little bit more about 'old Annie'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Your kudos or comments are really appreciated! :)

Annie kept typing things on her laptop, Jeff’s gaze over her the full time, as if wanting to see some sort of change in the way she behaved. She noticed it and tried to make some conversation but he knew she was just trying to make the ride a little bit more comfortable. 

They passed a big gate and Jeff turned to see through the window, he knew Annie’s parents didn’t actually ‘struggle’ with money, but he didn’t know they were that wealthy. He tried to remember Annie giving any sign of it during their talks or they way she acted and he couldn’t find any, she was so nice and hardworking, usually the rich kids he knew were either rude or expected everything being handled to them.

He remembered Britta’s “Rehab who?’ comment and he felt worried, her parents had disowned her because of her wanting to actually get her life together, to clean her system, she was aware she was going to loss all of this, her shortcut to good colleges, probably having millionaires as friends a whole lot of contacts just by being someone’s daughter. And still, she made her choice and she worked hard and she had it all over control. 

And in the middle of his proud of her moment, a little alarm rang in his head. The Annie standing by his side was already sleeping over at her parents, her old home, she was already back at some of her time and mental consuming hobbies, her eyes were a little darker shade of blue, her style was different, her hair even was different. Just within a couple of days. Was this Annie realizing what she lost and wanting it back? It didn’t sound like her, but it also could be a possibility. 

They walked to the entrance, a man had opened the door for them, not even looking at them in the eye, still he heard a sweet “Hi” from Annie towards the man.

“Do your parents happen to be millionaires or something?”, Jeff asked looking around, a little intimidated.

“I don’t know, I don’t ask them that”, Annie said, avoiding a real answer, “My teacher should be here in maybe fifteen minutes, in the meantime, want a little tour?”.

“Is it enough time?”, he asked with true concern.

“I mean, I can show you my room”.

“Okay”, he couldn't have answer any more quickly and he slapped himself mentally. 

They walked to the big stairs, Jeff was still a little shook, he saw at the end of the stairs a big family portrait. Annie was so little, her brother a kid, the only one smiling was a small Annie with eyes almost bigger than her face. He smiled at her, “How old were you there?”, he asked and she followed his gaze, “Oh, I was 10 years old. I always thought it seemed really weird, but my parents love it, so, well”, she let a small laugh and he smiled. 

She opened the door to her room, letting him in, and he could help to chuckle when he noticed how she was now in her usual height, taking her heels off. 

“Wow”, he said, “It has nothing to the room in your apartment, tho”, he said and she smiled. “This is my favorite part”, Annie said, opening a curtain and revealing a huge glass door to a balcony. “I used to spend each free time here, it made me feel safe”, Annie said in a nostalgic tone and Jeff walked out to the balcony, looking at the view, a big garden and blue sky. He could see its charm. 

He looked over the balcony up to the garden and then back at her, “Yikes, whoever guy dared to climb to your balcony would have to be ready to either die or get tired mid climbing”. “Yes, happened a lot, because I was sooo popular”, she said in a sarcastic tone.

Dave knocked on the door and opened it, “Annie, your teacher’s here”. “Coming”, she said from the balcony. “So, you’re free to stay here or if you want to show yourself around, however you want. If you need anything ask Dave, he’s cool”.

“So I can’t see you play piano?”, he asked and she smiled, “No, can’t do. My mom’s really strict about distractions and my teacher is a snitch” she said in an annoyance tone but squeezed his arm, “Plus you would get really bored, trust me. So, i’ll see you in an hour”, Annie said with a smile, walking out of her room. 

He tried not to snoop around but after a couple of minutes looking at the garden he walked inside the room, again. Just walking around, trying to see anything that reminded him of her. He stopped at her vanity and saw a couple of perfumes, just one of them not perfectly organized with the others, he took the cap off and smelled it, a sense of comfort, a little tingle from his stomach to his chest made him notice instantly it was her signature perfume. It smelled like her. Would it be weird if he sprayed some of it with one of the scrunchies she had left over her vanity and took it with him?... Yes. He usually kept panties of girls he slept with, and somehow this sounded way creepier, well, at least he was not going to grab one of her panties… 

Jeff shook his head and left the perfume in its place. He walked to the bathroom and his eyes widened at a big bathtub, everything fully organized, towels with her initials… He opened one of the cabinets under the big sink, and he focused his gaze on a safe, he hadn't met someone who also kept a safe in their bathroom. But she didn’t have one at her current apartment, this was odd. What was she trying to hide? Everything was fully visible and in place, what else was missing?

He tried to guess a combination, first with her birthday, no luck. Then, he smiled and tried his birthday… also, no luck. And well, it felt somehow a little disappointing but closed the cabinets again and walked into a big closet and now he was taking pictures of the design so he could get some ideas for his place. Something clicked in his mind, she had stayed one night there, and this was a full closet filled with stuff. He tried to think it might be old things but everything was tied up and it didn’t fully seem like her usual wardrobe choices. He held a dress and noticed a tag on it. Another piece of clothing, another tag on. Everything seemed new. 

Jeff felt a rush into his body, and now he was panicking, she was moving there, she was probably transfering from Greendale, he was never going to see her again. He had years to make a move and now she was away, back with her old life, her old hobbies, her old place and he was now going to be one of her old friends. She was probably coming back and reuniting with some kind of ex boyfriend who could give her this kind of lifestyle, younger than him, more put together than him, with no commitment issues and she was going to have a perfect family, not even being able to remember his name. And now he needed to see her, to ask her. 

He felt like he was about to faint and since when has all of himself got attached to her? The kind of attachment when he was feeling out of breath. 

Jeff walked out of the room and down the stairs, trying to remember when Annie had pointed when she told him about a piano. He stayed still outside the studio when he listened to a soft nice voice and piano, suddenly weak on the knees, coming from the room. 

_ ‘Hello, how are you? How you’ve been? Lately I wonder how it feels to steal your kiss... I only told the moon, tonight up on the roof, I told her that I’m scared that all my thoughts they look like you... I ask her to please tell me if you tell things to her too… _

_ I’ll wait for the moon to lean up close and say: That he only told the moon, tonight up on the roof. He told me that he’s scared that all his thoughts they look like you’ _

_ “ _ She’s good isn’t it? She’s usually good at everything”, Dave said with a proud tone, Jeff tried not to jump from the sudden approach, his head was full on filled with her voice and the melody.

“Yeah, she’s really good”, Jeff managed to say, “What’s the name of that song? The lyrics-”.

“I don’t know, they might’ve not decided yet, it’s still a work in progress. Annie wrote the lyrics this morning so they’re working on the melody. It still might change”. 

The music stopped and he heard the other woman in the room saying “Okay, now from the top”, to which Annie answered in a playful tone “Make it drop”, he heard her giggle after a gasp from her teacher and he couldn’t help but smile too. An awkward silence followed by an “Okay” from Annie and the melody started again, and he could melt from her voice, now a little weaker trying not to laugh. 

“Can I offer you some water or you just wanna stay here to stalk Annie?”, Dave asked and Jeff smirk, but wanting to be by himself answered, “Don’t want to bother, but I could have a glass of water”. Dave nodded with a soft smile and walked away.

He leaned into the wall, still listening, he took his phone and opened the voice notes app, hitting record instantly, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to get her voice out of his mind, like usual, but he wanted to fully remember it. She had written the lyrics today, if Dave was telling the truth, were those just a random thought in her head or was this about him? 

He stopped listening to music and jumped out of place at the sound of heels coming his way. “Hey”, Annie said when she noticed him, now her cheeks blushing a little bit. “Hello, I was just happen to be walking by”, he said while putting his phone back on his pocket. “Good”, she said, “What do you think about it?”.

“It’s a really nice place, might take some pictures of it, trying to get some ideas if I ever build a house”, he said and Annie nodded, “Actually one of my uncles is an architect and he designed it from scratch. If you ever want to ask him something you can tell me”.

“Here’s you water, Mister Winger”, Dave said, handing Jeff a glass of water. “Thank you, did I tell you my name?”, Jeff asked. “Oh I told him about you”, Annie answered with a smile. “Oh wanna see the garden? I love it”, Annie said with an excited smile and Jeff’s mind was on a whole other level.

Annie showed him around the garden, he could see she was actually happy to be there, he saw her take big breaths of fresh air and sometimes close her eyes just to feel the breeze. He was happy for her, but couldn’t help to feel a nod in his stomach, knowing this was really her life. She was moving on without him.

“Are you moving back here?”, he left out, he could see it took Annie by surprise, but she smiled nervously back, “Would it be that bad?”, she asked. “No, of course not, it’s your life. I just thought you liked living with friends and on your own terms”, he said, a little harsher than intended.

“I do. But, when I first moved out, I mean I didn’t have an option and now I do, and I really missed this sense of safety, when I’m here I feel like I don’t have to watch my back all the time”, she said with a sweet smile.

“You guys are still family to me, and, as you can see, my heart will always belong to you”, she said, referring to the fact that, even after all those years, she loved her family and therefore she will always love the study group. But he couldn’t help his heart from racing, wanting to hear that last part was only for him. 

“Abed and Troy will miss you”.

“Haven’t made any decision yet”.

“I saw your closet full of nice new things”.

Annie looked at him a little offended but let out a laugh, “And i’m the nosy one”.

“Sometimes, yes”, he said with a smirk.

“Those things don't mean anything, don’t worry”.

“I don’t think I’d ever even met you like this”, he said, motioning at her whole self, she smiled.

“Yeah, I mean, we don’t have much in common”.

“I’m referring to this kind of someone’s rich kid”, he said as if it was obvious.

“You used to hang with a ton of people like that, you wouldn’t even notice me”, she said and he made a little frown, “How could I not notice you?”.

“Because it’d just not make any sense. The only good thing I got from Adderall, well, besides being able to do a whole lot of things… Let’s say, the good thing I got from the whole rehab, disowned thing, was going to Greendale and meeting you guys. As you say, I don’t know if under any other situation we would even have this kind of friendship”. 

“I agree, actually. I’d make those mistakes again if it leads me back to you… guys”. 

Annie gave him a soft smile and he smiled back, pulling her in for a hug. She hugged him back, a strong hug as if wanting to bury herself in him, he let her. 

“Annie, honey. Who’s this handsome gentleman?”, Annie’s mom said, walking towards them.


End file.
